WATCH: “I Don’t Want To Say The Election Is Over” Donald Trump Struggled To Record Post-Attack Message
Donald Trump did release a message on January 6th, 2021, calling for the mob attacking the Capitol to leave and go home. He also released a statement the following day condemning the attack, to a degree. However, a significant part of the story isn’t just that he said certain things, but how reluctant he was to do so.
The January 6th Committee released during their Thursday evening public hearing some video footage of Trump trying, and struggling, to record a short statement, pre-written for him, condemning the attack and encouraging his fans to move forward peacefully and understand that the election was over and settled.
Instead, the recording shows Trump balking and arguing, complaining that the word ‘yesterday’ doesn’t fit well in the speech, demanding that a line reiterating the condemnation of the mob be removed, and griping that he doesn’t want to say “the election is over.”
President Trump on January 7th: "This election is now over. Congress has certified the results — I don't want to say the election's over."#January6thHearing pic.twitter.com/tZ5urGjsZZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 22, 2022
Ivanka Trump can be heard off-camera, making efforts to soothe the then-president’s ego and assure him it’s okay to leave out the words and lines he doesn’t like, and helping him reword statements he can tolerate saying.
Ultimately, Trump did manage to record and release a statement that appears to have been only an approximation of the original scripted message, but he clearly wasn’t happy about it. Further evidence of his unwillingness can be seen in his continued Big Lie rhetoric that has continued for a year and a half since the day of the attack, and continues still in his attacks on the January 6th Committee.
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